


We Stand Together, United.

by MissMercyCat



Category: Fallout 76
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-05 03:24:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18357614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMercyCat/pseuds/MissMercyCat
Summary: On October 23rd 2077, the bombs fell on our country. The world was damaged severely, if not destroyed, by the brutal attack. The life out there that so many knew died, along with a lot of the people. The idealistic, perfect American Dream had vanished in an instant.But we'll never know that perfect life which our parents had, or the perfect lives of all those living in the vault with us who experienced it.However, maybe we can rebuild it? It's possible, right?----------A fanfic idea I've had in the works for a while now! Based off a dream I had where me and a bunch of my friends were in Fallout 76. A group of ragtag, innocent young adults born and raised within Vault 76 go out into the world on Reclaimation Day to do their duty of rebuilding America: or at least, West Virginia first! Written in the view of Kitty Annette (that be the Fallout version of myself ^^). Gonna be mostly cute little stories of everyone finding their place in the world, but there will be fighting and a little violence: not graphic though, I promise :)





	1. Chapter 1: Reclamation Day

18 years ago, a little girl was born within the warm and safe walls of Vault 76, away from the destroyed ruins of the world outside. Her mother and father, Audrey and Paul, had spaces in the vault when it was created, and 7 years after they had entered the vault with the others... They had this tiny brown-haired child. Growing up, the mom would tell the child about what life was like before the Great War: about the home they had, with its white picket fence and Mr Handy robot, friendly neighbourhood, lush forests... And how she missed it. Her dad would tell her a lot too, about the job he had as a doctor and the people he worked with and the people he saved. Seems like the world was really nice for some, despite how harsh it was for others.

That little girl was me. Kitty Annette.

It sucks that I’ll never know the haven which my parents lived in before the bombs dropped. But I have my own form of a haven: Vault 76.

I wasn’t the only one born in the vault either.  
  
Before long, a new small group had formed consisting of tiny toddlers: this included myself, my best friend Lucy Steves, the slightly older Zoey Corrane, nonidentical twin sisters Bethany and Rosey Redds (also slightly older than me and Lucy), the slightly younger Christopher "Chris" Asherts, the beautiful Tamara Haywoods (who we soon nicknamed Tangle due to her strange yet amusing ability to take some tangled Christmas lights and somehow make them even more of a mess), and the timid Anthea Vertigo who is the youngest of the group at 16 years old.  
  
As we grew up, we were taught how to survive the world outside our home when Reclamation Day came, and more importantly, what made us SPECIAL. We knew what we were best at by the time we turned 12: **Strength** was Lucy's key attribute. Lucy became very good with using guns, and due to her strength she could carry heavy objects easily (how I envy her, I have noodle arms and the strength of a radroach).  **Perception** was Rosey's talent, honing her senses and improving her VATS skills; she was also very good at finding things, which was helpful since she was (hilariously enough) the one who lost the most random objects during our time in the vault. **Endurance** was what our friend Zoey was best at; we all got taught how to cook, but Zozo was the best out of all of us. She could turn small scraps of food into something tasty AND radiation free. Her immune system (and body in general) also seemed to be better than the rest of us, as she got sick less often than any of us did! **Charisma** , now that was Bethany's game (though I myself was also good in this field). She became skilled in bargaining, and though some of the vault members got wise to her tricks she could usually get what she wanted: Beth wasn't greedy though, she often bargained for things to share with the rest of the group. Myself and Anthea worked hard to increase our **Intelligence** ; not just in general, but also for more particular aspects. I improved my ability to hack terminals (a skill which we did question in terms of usefulness), as well as my ability to make bandages and stimpaks ( **definitely** a useful skill to have!); I occasionally worked on making mods for weapons though. Anthea meanwhile focused her intelligence on diseases and radiation, and how to prevent as well as cure them without using tons of our resources; we definitely didn't want to deal with mutations like our Reclamation films told us about! Tangle's **Agility** was the attribute she focused on the most; she was not only a fast runner and was able to keep exercising long after most of us had almost collapsed with exhaustion, but she was very good at sneaking about. We all found it very funny when she'd suddenly pop up out of nowhere and startled another resident! And as for who had the most **Luck** , that would be Chris without a doubt. He was quite a well rounded person, undecided in which profession to focus on the most and so working hard on all of them, but he was always getting very lucky; he won the most games in the vault for certain, but when we practiced out fighting skills on each other he'd somehow avoid getting hit the most despite being a little clumsy.  
  
Life in the vault was pleasant for us. We learned, and we played. Hide and seek was a popular game for the kids of the vault even as we got older. Board games and card games were a great way of entertaining ourselves, or alternatively enraging ourselves if someone overtook us in Blast Radius or took a card we needed to finish a set when playing Go Fish. Holotape games were also very fun; though we typically made a lot of noise when we were all crowded around one computer shouting at whoever was playing the game. We annoyed the adults multiple times with our antics, but they knew every time we meant well. My mom and dad may never stop telling me about their life before the War, and how blissful and perfect it was; to me, the vault has always been exactly that. We were safe, we were well fed, we were warm, we learnt a lot and we plenty of fun. I even found someone to call my own; I had a strong crush on Tangle since we were both 13, and eventually when we turned 16 I finally asked her out. Much to my surprise, she said yes! It was incredible, like a dream come true.  
  
But our time within Vault 76 was short lived. Reclamation Day was soon upon us.  
  
I woke up groggily in my bed to the sound of the Overseer talking over the speaker system. The party we had the night before was a little foggy in my memories, but as I checked the photos I had taken (which now sat on my bedside table), I couldn’t help but sleepily smile. Most of them were selfies with my friends, though some were of the other dwellers going crazy and enjoying their time. A fair few of the shots i took were blurry, but you could tell what was going on; absolute insanity.   
  
Grinning to myself, I got out of bed and threw my PJs off, pulling on my Vault 76 jumpsuit as the Overseer spoke about how today was the big day: Reclamation Day! Hastily and excitedly I grabbed my socks and tugged those on, before shoving on my boots. The boots they had given us all were very tough and durable, and while most had the same sort of style I had recently given mine a more... Personal touch. I had added a dark pink rim around the top of it, to match my favourite jacket. For my 16th birthday, my mom and dad had worked to make me a snazzy pink zip-up jacket; it’s one of my most prized possessions, along with my framed family photo of me and my parents. I usually wear my jacket around my waist, but if it gets chilly I actually wear it. Lucy has one too, a black one. Sometimes we all joke that Lucy and I are the twins instead of Bethany and Rosey!

I took my headband which sat beside my terminal on my desk, and pushed the pink band into my hair. I also made sure to grab the holotape game which was in my terminal; I wasn't intending to leave my high score behind! Just as I was about to leave my bedroom, I paused and backed up a bit to grab my party photos from last night from my bedside table. Now satisfied, I headed into the living room. I had already collected everything I’d need for leaving the vault before the party yesterday: because I was 18, I was in my own room which was next door to my parents. I didn’t have many belongings, but I had everything valuable scanned into my Pip-Boy 2000 Inventory System: food like Sugar Bombs, Fancy Lads Snack Cakes, pure water, extra clothes such as a spare vault suit and some extra socks, hygiene items like my toothbrush and my hairbrush, as well as my personal items like my older photos which were no longer in frames, but instead in a large album. Eagerly, I attached my Pip-Boy 2000 once again onto my left wrist, ensuring it was tight enough to stay on but also not too tight so it didn't hurt. Moving over to the couch, I pulled my photo album from my inventory, and as soon as I had sat myself down I opened it up and began to slip the photos inside the little plastic wallets.

No sooner than I had slid in the last photo, my door was flung open. It was Tangle, Lucy, Zoey, Chris, Anthea, Bethany and Rosey. Behind my group of pals, our parents all stood behind them looking proud. “Up and at ‘em, Kitty! Today’s the big day!” Exclaimed Lucy with a massive grin as my friends all came into my room.  
  
“I AM up though. I’ve just finished putting all my photos into my album,” I replied, smiling warmly at my friends.  
  
“Cheeky,” Rosey said with a laugh before looking at the photo album in my lap curiously, “Are those all the pictures from last night you just put in?”  
  
I nodded and answered with a simple “Yea”, before allowing them to have a little peak at some of the photographs I had taken.  
  
“I remember barely any of last night’s party,” Admitted Chris with a laugh, and everyone else chuckled too. His parents made a tutting sound, but they were smiling.  
  
“Now, are all of you ready?” My mom asked, “Are you all packed and prepared?”  
  
There was a chorus of “Yes!” from all of us, and Lucy’s mom laughed. “You all seem pretty eager.”  
  
“Well, it’s gonna suck leaving the vault, but... We gotta rebuild America Y’know? It’s our duty,” Bethany said, firm and with a determined look on her face. We all immediately nodded in agreement.  
  
Rosey and Bethany’s father smiled, as their mom wiped a tear or two from her eyes. “We’ve raised you so well,” he said, wrapping an arm around his slightly tearful wife.  
  
“When we leave the vault, you will be on your own. We will be together in a group,” said my father as he gestured to the other moms and dads, “And you will be in your group. We won’t be with you the entire time, I’m afraid.”  
  
“That’s okay dad,” I said confidently, “We’ve been training for this day. I’m sure we’ll be seeing you around Appalachia as we rebuild our home.”  
  
My father grinned and nodded firmly. “Yes, you will. Make us proud. All of you.”  
  
I smiled back at him, then suddenly rushed forward and hugged him and mom. I sniffled as they held me, my mother stroking my hair and my father patting me on the back. “There there,” mom soothed as she kissed my forehead, “This isn’t goodbye. This is just a ‘see you soon’. You’ll find us around, I promise. We won’t be straying too far from the vault anyway.”  
  
I looked up at her, lifting my head from her shoulder. “You won’t?”  
  
“No,” Tangle’s mother answered, “We’ve decided to focus on rebuilding the more local towns such as Flatwoods, providing it's still up and running like I remember it used to. We’re not as young and energetic as you young ones, so we don’t want to go too far.”  
  
My mom nodded in confirmation. “So if you ever want to come find us, to let us know how you’re doing or if you feel a little homesick and miss us, you know where we’ll be. Does that make you feel a bit better Kitty, sweetie?"  
  
I bit my lip, then nodded a little; even though we had been taught and prepared our entire lives for this, for going out into the unknown and rebuilding our country, I was... Beginning to feel nervous. “Yea... That helps a lot actually." I backed away from my parents to give them some space, as well as to grab my camera; I had apparently left it on the cabinet beside the couch (something I had no memory of, nor did I understand how the camera was here yet the photos had been in my bedroom). "How about... One last big group picture here in the vault? How does that sound?" Everyone nodded with agreement, and as I adjusted the camera on my tripod they all began to cluster closer together to fit into the shot. Steadying the camera, I peeked through viewfinder, and made sure everyone was in the shot. A wave of anxiety rushed over me once again, and I shivered a little (thankfully unnoticed by the group all still getting close to get them all in frame). I didn't understand why I was feeling like this; why I was so damn afraid, so worried, seeing everyone together like this.

I realise now it was because of the terrifying thought that it could've be the last time we were all together.

Shaking off the looming fear once again, I set the timer and ran around the camera to join the group; they had saved a space right in the middle of them all for me, in front of my mom and dad. I grinned brightly alongside my friends despite the fear looming within my heart and mind, and the flash quickly went off. As I took the polaroid picture from the camera, I couldn't help but feel some pride along with that fear; my pictures always made me feel proud. Moments of the past, immortalised in a single image. Kinda poetic. And while this picture brought me fear, it also brought me happiness (and still does): seeing everyone I knew and cared about standing together, united. Ready to face whatever it was that awaited us outside these safe vault walls. Everyone smiling, holding each other with excitement and pride on their faces and in their posture. I'm glad I was able to take a picture of that moment; I'll always treasure it.

"Lookin' pretty smooth guys!" I said with a triumphant grin as I took my photo album and slipped the new addition in alongside the others on this new page.

"Don't we always look good, Kitty?" Tangle teased, before kissing my cheek as I scanned my photo album, camera and tripod into my Pip-Boy Inventory System.

"Yea, that's true actually. Especially you sweetie; you always look a dime a dozen."

Anthea giggled quietly. "You two are adorable!"

"Yep, you two are super cute," Zozo added with a cheeky grin.

There was a chuckle from the parents as me and my girlfriend blushed. "You've all grown up, so fast... To think, a few years ago you were little toddlers all in the nursery together, playing with your toys and reading your little baby books..." Zoey's mother said with a sigh and a smile. "And look at how you've grown together and who you have all become. You've found what makes you SPECIAL, you've excelled in your classes, and you've become bright, strong, and mature young adults."

"The outside world is waiting for us, for YOU. Are you all ready?" Asked my father, sounding serious yet with a small smile on his face.

I turned my head and looked at all my friends. Anthea, nervous as always. Chris, grinning eagerly. Zoey, looking serious behind her dark hair. Tangle, her arm now linked in mine. Bethany and Rosey, side by side and practically shaking with excitement. And Lucy, who turned to look at me as soon as I locked my eyes on her. She gave me a smile; I could tell she was anxious too. She could probably sense that I was feeling the same way; she's my best friend after all, she can read me like a book just like my girlfriend can.

"Yea. I think we're all ready," I answer, smiling nervously.

Anthea's mom patted her child on the head and gave her a small kiss. "You'll stay with your friends, right Anthea sweetie? You're the youngest out of everyone..."

"O-Of course I'll stay with them mom! We're rebuilding our country together!"

"That's my girl! I'm so proud of you my little darling. Now," she backed away from her daughter and addressed the whole group, "We are going to head off outside the vault now. You are all free to grab your Pip-Boys and any remaining things you think you've forgotten. Then, head out of the vault. We won't be waiting for you; you're old enough and mature enough to take care of yourselves and each other. Stay in your group, alright?"

Everyone nodded and gave their parents some final hugs and kisses. I held onto my mom and dad, and honestly I didn't want to let go. I was still frightened by the thought that they'd die out there and I'd never see them again; or worse, if I died and they never saw me again. Either way, someone would be hurt. I think my parents could also sense how nervous I was, but she said nothing. She just held me close to her, and kissed my forehead.

Eventually, I needed to let go.

When I did, my mom and dad waved me goodbye, walked out the door of my room, and began to head down the path the cardboard cutouts were pointing to. The other moms and dads followed them after a few more moments. Now we were without our guardians; now, we were our own team.

"Looks like everyone has got their Pip-Boys with them," I said as I turned to face my friends, the last of the parents (Bethany and Rosey's mom and dad) having gone down the pathway and out of sight. "Ah... Except you, Anthea. You've not got your Pip-Boy on your arm."

Anthea nodded, smiling a little but also blushing with embarrassment. "Y-Yep. I got dragged out of my room by mom and dad b-before I could get it on. My bad."

"It's okay Anth, I'll come with you to your room to get it and help attach it to your wrist. Everyone else, don't run off," Zoey said as she placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

"If it's okay with you guys, I wanna look around the vault one more time before we gotta make like a Red Rocket and blast on outta here," Beth responded, blowing some hair out of her face. "I'm gonna assume we're not allowed back in here once we leave."

"Yea, we ain't. I heard from my mom that after 24 hours, once all the residents of the vault are outta here everything'll stop functioning," Chris said with a disappointed expression on his face, "But hey! No time to be a wet rag about it! We're residents of Vault 76, tasked with rebuilding our country! We gotta get out there and make our mark on the world! On Appalachia! So yea; let's look around the vault one last time and reminisce before we gotta go."

Everyone cheered in agreement, and began to file out of my room; Anthea vanished first, hurrying back to her room to grab her Pip-Boy with Zoey by her side; she's always been like a big sister to us all since she's the oldest (she was born a few months before Bethany and Rosey were), but she's been a big sister to Anthea especially. Then Chris ran on, with Bethany and Rosey close behind, all three having confidence and eagerness in their stride. I watched them go, before looking back at my room, expecting Lucy and Tangle to head off with the others while my back was turned. I looked at my little bedroom, with the warm cosy bedsheets and terminal and paintings. At my living room with the strange patterned rug, colour TV, and strange yet silly bobbleheads sat around the place. It was so warm, so cosy, so safe. It was all I had known since I was born. Was I really ready to leave it behind and give it up so quickly for a world I didn't know? For a world full of radation and unknown dangers? I had been so excited leading up to this day... Why was I hesitating now?

 I flinched as I felt a hand rest itself on my shoulder. I turned to see Tamara, standing by my side, her pale blue eyes looking directly at me. "You're gonna miss it all too, right?" She asked quietly.

"… Yea, I am. I-I dunno why I'm so nervous all of a sudden. We've lived our entire lives knowing this day would come, we've been trained and taught with the sole purpose of surviving and rebuilding after The Great War hit and ravaged the country. I've been so excited about getting out there and reclaiming the world, rebuilding it and making it the great and beautiful country our parents told us about and showed us pictures of. And now that day is here, it's literally a few steps away from us... And yet... I'm scared."

Silence. Then... "Yea, I understand sweetie. I-I'm a little scared as well, to be honest. But... We gotta do this."

"I-I know. I... I wish we could come back here. Just once in a while, we could return, and we could sleep in our warm beds and have purified water and watch TV..."

"Who knows? Maybe if we're lucky, we can. Maybe everything turning off after 24 hours is a scare tactic they're using to get us to go out there. Or maybe it'll malfunction. Heck, you're good at hacking stuff aren't ya? You could hack the system and make this place never turn off. As long as we help run the vault with stuff from the outside world, who knows? Maybe we  **can** come back here every now and again, to take a break and be in a familiar place we know and feel safe in. And hey, even if we can't come back home, we're taking as much of this as we can with us. Maybe we can even set up our own houses that look just like the vault, furniture and everything, so we can take a little slice of this with us. We got all those plans and the CAMP for a reason!"

I couldn't help but smile; she was trying so hard to cheer me up and make me feel more confident. "Yea, you're right darlin'..." I looked at the room one last time, then faced my girlfriend. "Let's get going with the others then."

"That's my girl!" With a kiss on the cheek, Tangle took my hand and pulled me towards the door. Lucy was standing there with a smile, waiting for us. I grinned at her, feeling the excitement rise up within me.

My name is Kitty Annette. I'll always be a resident of Vault 76. And this? This is OUR story. The story of me, and my girlfriend, and my closest friends.

Because if you come from Vault 76...

That's when your future truly begins.

 


	2. Chapter 2: The Outside World

Everyone had all stepped through the open door together. Pip-Boys attached and items received from the Mr Handy's that paved the way for us, we left the vault.

At first we were hit with a cold breeze, before heat and light overwhelmed the cold and warmed up our bodies quickly. I shielded my eyes, as did the others, as the sun hit us. The sun... I'd never seen the sun before. I'd never felt such heat hit my body like this, nor had I seen such a bright light before. The vault lamps were never this intense...

After a few moments, my eyes finally adjusted to the light.

The trees were all kinds of beautiful colours, ranging from deep emerald greens to crimson reds; all sat beneath a beautiful blue sky, with little wisps of cloud floating by. A sign stood proudly above a nearby pathway despite it's faded yellow and blue colours: "Vault-Tec Celebrates 300 Years of America". Nearby the sign little yellow and blue balloons bobbed contently up and down in the slight breeze that we felt drift past. Nearby the sign we also saw (much to our relief), a familiar sight; a Mr Handy, shiny and clean, hovered there waiting. Piles of autumn leaves were scattered across the pathways leading up to the vault door. The pathway railings looked a little rusty, but aside from one or two broken ones they stood sturdy and strong. A few benches stood too along the pathways; some had fallen over, others remained in their place.

I was in awe.

This wasn't what I was anticipating, in the slightest. In our Reclamation Films, we got told of a world ravaged by bombs and destruction, of empty fields and broken, dead trees. This world in front of me and my team was nothing like what we had expected the world to look like when we left the vault. It was vibrant, it was colourful, and it was beautiful. I realise now, of course, that we hadn't seen the worst of it yet. But looking back it was probably for the best we didn't see such extreme destruction first; we probably would have ran back into the vault if we did.

I let go of Tangle's hand, and slowly walked forward towards the railing. "Woah..." Was all I could whisper, as I looked forward into this strange new world.

"This is... Not what I was expecting, not gonna lie," Chris said, sounding simultaneously confused and in awe.

A chuckle came from Lucy. "I don't think this was what anyone was expecting."

"I-It looks so different from the videos, a-and from what we've been told by our teachers!" Anthea stuttered, looking incredibly nervous.

"At least it looks better than what we got told. It could've been a hell of a lot worse couldn't it?" Zoey said with a small, relieved smile. She walked over to where I was standing, and looked out over the forest with me. "Look at this view... Now ain't this a pretty sight. You gonna take a picture of this, Kitty?"

I nodded eagerly, and took my camera out of my Pip-Boy inventory, before steadying my shaking hands and focusing the camera. Such a momentous moment, our first view of this world; such a beautiful view it was too. I took a picture, capturing this incredible period of time, before returning my camera and the picture to my inventory for safekeeping. When we had some free time, I would put the picture into the album.

"H-Hey, we should head down there. I-I see one of the vault's Mr Handy's!" Anthea called out, going towards the stairs and pointing at the robot I had noticed when absorbing my surroundings.

Chris stared at the Mr Handy for a moment. "He looks pretty clean doesn't he? You reckon he's been posted there by the Overseer this morning before everyone woke up? Y'know, to help everyone?"

"Yea, maybe he's got something to tell us! The others in the vault gave us some good advice didn't they?" Tangle replied with a grin, before making her way down the stairs with Anthea. The rest of us quickly followed, heading over to the robot.

The Mr Handy turned to look at us almost immediately when he heard us charging down the steps. "Ah, hello everyone! I see you're all prepared and ready to go and rebuild the country!"

"It looks pretty intact from what we've seen so far, but yea! You bet we are!" I said confidently.

"Wonderful, wonderful! Ah, before you go off adventuring, I have something here with me. I... found this holotape on the Overseer's terminal. It has some... Very important, and very secretive information on it. I think she left it behind on purpose, for someone else to listen to and to follow the instructions she's recorded on it. Someone who is trustworthy, and strong, and brave. I think that fits all of you rather well. Can I trust you with it?"

I turned to face my friends; Of course I thought we could all be trusted, but I wanted their opinions too. As I made eye contact with Lucy first, she nodded in agreement. Then Tangle. Then Bethany and Rosey nodded simultaneously. Then Chris nodded excitedly, alongside Zoey who was a little more calmer as she agreed. Anthea was still by far the most nervous of the group, but she gave me a shy little nod before hiding behind her long fringe. "Yea, we can be trusted. You can count on us!" I concluded cheerfully.

"Marvellous! If I had a mouth right now, I would be smiling from ear to ear! Uh, if I had ears as well, of course. Regardless! Here you go!" With that, a mechanical hand revealed a small yet unharmed holotape, which I carefully took from the Mr Handy and put into my inventory. "I would advice you all to head down these stairs and follow the pathway towards the Overseer's camp which she has set up, and listen to it there. She's set up plenty of workbenches and things like that to help you all out. You'll need everything you can get your little hands on if you're going to survive out in the world."

"Don't worry, we've been taught for this day! We can handle it, I'm sure we can!" I replied confidently again.

"How grand! This country of ours is in such safe hands with such intelligent, determined youths like yourselves! Off you go then! Stay safe!" With that, he moved to the side and allowed us to head down the stairs together.

No sooner had we began to make our way towards the Overseer's camp, we were halted once again.

Two corpses lay there, looking a little old but by no means entirely decayed. One had a dulled brown uniform, the other a navy uniform with a little red and white logo. Any blood from any possible wounds these men had was gone, probably washed away by rain. One was holding a machete, the other a gun of some kind. Clearly, they'd been dead for a little while.

"O-Oh my gosh..." Zoey muttered, before looking away.

"I mean... It could be worse," I pointed out. I was still disgusted, but... We had expected this. Honestly I was expecting even worse given what we had been taught in the Vault all those years.

"I-It could be worse, but this is still kinda messed up ain't it sweetiepie?" Tangle asked nervously.

"Yea, of course it is my lovely. I didn't say it wasn't messed up."

Chris cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt this sad moment, but can we, like... Take their weapons? We need SOMETHING to defend ourselves, and these guys aren't gonna use 'em anytime soon are they?"

"W-We're gonna have to... Zoey, you grab the machete. I'll take the gun this guy has," Lucy said, sounding mostly calm as she kneeled down and picked up the gun; next to her, Zoey bent down and picked up the machete, holding it firmly in her right hand. We watched as Lucy checked through the dead man's pockets, and after a moment or two she pulled out some extra ammunition as well as a folded up note. "What's this...?"

"Pass it here, let me read it while you sort your gun and ammo out," Bethany demanded as she took the note from Lucy and unfolded it. "Huh..."

_'Paul, I need you to make the monthly scouting trip to Vault 76._

_Those doors have to open sometime._

_Don't take risks, observe for a few days and come back._

_Signed, Maria.'_

"It... It seems like there's some kinda group out there. They must've survived the war."

Rosey tilted her head. "But I thought there wouldn't be any survivors. They dropped BOMBS on the entirety of the USA, Beth!"

"Well given that Appalachia is as colourful as a fruit salad I'd be willing to bet we didn't get hit with a bomb, Rosey. Or at the very least, we didn't get hit with as many as somewhere like New York or Boston would. Which is good! That'll make rebuilding it easier since there's not that much that's been destroyed!"

"T-There's s-still going to be a lot o-of dead bodies and mutated m-monsters though..." Whimpered a frightened looking Anthea, who has quickly and all too eagerly shuffled herself to the very back of the group; I could only barely see her behind Chris.

Zoey turned and looked at Anthea sympathetically. "I know, but if we stopped and ran away at every dead body or strange creature we come across, we're never gonna make progress. We got to fight and move forward as best as we can."

"Zozo is right, Anthea... There's gonna be a lot more conflict awaiting us, I'm sure of it. But you ain't alone in this. We're here to protect and help each other!" Rosey said encouragingly, giving the youngest group member a pat on the back. "C'mon, everything is gonna be alright!"

Anthea bit her lower lip, then nodded after a moment. "Y-Yea. It's gonna be okay. S-Sorry, I'm just... I'm a little frightened," she murmured.

"It's okay to be frightened, Anth. Sure, going out into the world of monsters and scary stuff ain't exactly something to be jazzed about, it makes sense that you're scared. But we're not gonna go charging in guns blazing. We're gonna take this slow and steady," I said with a warm smile, "Now how's about we head to the Overseer's camp like the Mr Handy said? That's a good starting point, yea?"

The young girl looked at me, and smiled back; I could still see the worry in her eye that wasn't covered by her hair, but she looked a little less nervous after a pep talk. "Y-Yea, that's a good idea."

Zoey took ahold of Anthea's hand with her free left hand, and began to guide her down the pathway past the corpses. We all followed behind them, looking around and taking in our surroundings. The path was only a dirt one as we reached the bottom of the small staircase, but we were able to follow it regardless. More and more trees shaded us from the sun, but not so much that we couldn't see the beautiful sky that was above us. I felt both content and concerned at the same time as we all continued carefully and almost silently down the pathway, further and further from the vault; on one hand, the world seemed mostly undamaged. The forests seemed lush and colourful and full of life, and it was calming to see such a different yet safe and warm world compared to what we got warned about. On the other hand... I felt as though this warmth and safety was only temporary. That despite the vibrant nature and lovely atmosphere, something sinister hid underneath it. Or at the very least, something sinister was out in the world waiting for us to find it. The dead bodies we just came across certainly didn't help ease my nervousness about the idea of something terrifying and monstrous awaiting in the shadows, a monster all too eager to tear us apart...

After a few minutes of walking, we made it to a road. It was mostly in tact, but it was also a little broken up in places and the coloured lines faded. There were cars and trucks too on the roads, but they were rusted and broken almost seemingly beyond repair. I think I wasn't the only one to see remains of clothes and a skeleton or two within some of the cars, but nobody reacted aside from Zoey and Bethany who made sure Anthea didn't see them. "Look, I see a bridge over there!" Bethany called out, pointing down the road to a broken but still standing wooden bridge, "And my Pip-Boy is picking up a CAMP signal too. I think that's the Overseer's camp the Mr Handy was talking about!"

"Ah, yes! I see the bridge too! Come on, it's so close!" Anthea exclaimed eagerly, beginning to walk faster. I grinned, and began to pick up the pace too. The group was jogging along within seconds, aside from Tangle who didn't jog but full-on sprinted towards the bridge.

"Tangle, sweetie! Wait for us! We aren't all as agile as you are!" I called out to her, giggling as she stopped the second she heard my voice and turned around with a sheepish expression on her face.

"S-Sorry about that, I'm just really excited." She waited patiently for us catch up before jogging alongside me, her cherry necklace jumping up and down as she moved.

We all continued as a group, carefully making our way around the gaps in the broken bridge. As we reached a split in the faded road, the CAMP that sat just in front of us was now in full view. There was a burning fire emitting a warm and gentle glow, with cooking equipment around it as well as a small stack of wood logs. A slightly dirty mattress was lying on the floor beside a large fallen tree log, a bloody stone with the word "DWELLERS" written in chalk over it, a plain metal table with a knife lying on it... And a blue stash box with a yellow Vault-Tec logo on the top. Nearby were also some workbenches which we all recognised; One was for creating, scrapping and modifying weapons, and the other was for doing the same things but with armour. We had been using these most of our lives within the Vault as well learnt how to survive. Lucy was more knowledgeable about the weapons workbench than any of us were, and Zoey was capable at making better armour than the rest of us, but we all still knew how to make basic equipment we knew we would require. And the last item of interest was a wooden bench with a toolbox, a hammer, some duct-tape, a box of nails, and some building plans.

"Hey, we're here! This has GOTTA be the Overseer's CAMP, surely!" Chris exclaimed eagerly as we walked over. I went straight for where the stash box was, pausing before I opened it to grab the knife sat on the table. "Hm... Decent enough quality. Doesn't look like it's been used much..." I murmured to myself, before turning and raising my voice to talk to the group, "Yo, would anyone mind if I used this? Until we can make some proper guns and weapons?"

"I-I'm good, you can have it!" Stammered Anthea.

"I don't mind waiting a little; I trust you with a weapon more than I trust myself right now!" Laughed Chris, "My accuracy still needs some improvement!"

Bethany gave me a shake of the head to indicate she didn't mind, before turning to Chris and giving him a cheeky grin. "Improvement my ass, Chris! I swear you always used to get hella lucky and hit the targets just fine during shooting practice!" 

I waited for Rosey to give me an indication, but she had her back turned as she checked out the weapons workbench with Lucy. Tangle chuckled a little and patted me on the shoulder; she had also came over to check the box out with me. "I don't think she'll want it. You keep ahold of it darling, okay?"

"Alright," I responded as I put the knife away into my Pip-Boy inventory; I didn't need it now, but it would be helpful later. "Hmm... We should listen to this holotape the Mr Handy gave us shouldn't we? Before we snoop around to find anything."

"Oh! Yea! I almost forgot about that! Yo guys, gather 'round, we gotta listen to this tape!" Tangle called out to the others. Everyone scrambled over eagerly like radroaches, excited to see what could possibly be on this important holotape.

Excited, but also nervous, I loaded the holotape into my Pip-Boy player...

 

_"Overseer's Log, or should I say, direct communication. Because whoever is listening to this had the moxy to try to find out where I've gone._

_… But I'm glad you did. Truth is, I need your help. I've been given a task, and... I've decided to break protocol and tell you what it is._

_Because if there's one thing I've learned in these past few years, it's that we need to rely on each other._

_There were three active nuclear silos in Appalachia before the bombs fell. They blew up the world before._

_We can't let it happen again._

_So we've got to locate and secure all of the silos... Or die trying. Hopefully the former._

_But it's been twenty-five years. I just don't know what we're going to find out there. Or where to start..._

_My directive was to go to the nearest population center and assess the situation. I'll set up a CAMP on the way once I get my bearings. Find me there."_

The holotape stopped playing, and I removed it from my Pip-Boy player and placed it into my inventory for safe-keeping. "Damn..." Tangle muttered, looking surprised, "We're being trusted to help find nuclear silos! US! I mean we're capable peeps, but... Damn, that's one hell of a responsibility."

"We ain't finding any nuclear silos with no weapons and armour Tamara, those places are probably gonna be swarming with monsters," Rosey said calmly.

Lucy raised her hand a little, like a kid in the classroom. "Uh, is nobody gonna point out that she said we'd find her here... And she's NOT here??" 

"Yea, I noticed that too," I replied, "She isn't here at all."

Chris shrugged. "Well she DID say she was gonna head to the nearest populated area. That's probably that Flatwoods town that our parents mentioned."

Anthea bit her lip, before raising her voice. "... D-Did anyone's mom or dad live in Flatwoods? B-Before the bombs fell?"

"I think mine did," Tamara answered quickly, "They were the ones who decided all our parents should all stay near there and rebuild that area. I overheard them talking about being the ones to come up with that idea when I was getting dressed and ready this morning. That means they at least are very familiar with the area, or maybe even lived there. Still, why would the Overseer say to meet her here when she's not here?"

"Maybe this stash box has something to do with it?" I suggested, turning around and facing the blue and yellow box once again. "Shall I open it?"

There were various replies of agreement behind me, and with a firm nod I opened up the unlocked box. The box wasn't overflowing with items, but there was indeed stuff packed in there; It mostly consisted of several ammunition boxes, stacked in packs of 5 next to each other. I counted 25 packs of .308 ammo, and 30 packs of .38 ammo, all laid out neatly at the bottom of the stash box. There was 4 can-like objects labelled "Emergency Drinking Water", an untouched pack of Blamco Brand Mac and Cheese, an also untouched box of Dandy Boy Apples, some Sugarbombs… And another holotape, labelled "Overseer's Log: CAMP".

"Wow, okay... Sooooo, we got a lot of ammo. Lucy, you're gonna love all of that."

"Depends, what kinda ammunition is it?" She asked, peeking over my shoulder.

"Ya got your choice of .308 or .38, which one does your weapon take?"

I heard my best friend chuckle. "Well this is a pipe-gun, so it's .308 ammo. The guy's corpse also had some on him, so if I was wrong that dead body would tell us the right answer anyway. You may as well gimme all the ammo regardless, just for safekeeping."

I nodded in agreement, and began handing her the ammunition from the box, stack at a time to help her get it all scanned and stored into her Pip-Boy intentory. As I helped her out, Tamara took the Emergency Drinking Water from the box and gave all four to Zoey, and Anthea quickly grabbed also the food from within the box; She kept the Sugarbombs firmly in her grasp, but gave the Dandy Boy Apples to Rosey and the Mac and Cheese to Bethany. Once everyone had scanned these items in, our attention quickly turned itself to the only remaining item within the box. The holotape.

"That's gotta be from the Overseer. Quick Kitty, grab it and load it up!" Chris said eagerly.

"Alright, alright, hold ya horses. I'm gonna do exactly that!" I laughed, before picking up the holotape from the bottom of the box. With nothing remaining inside the stash box left there by the Overseer, I closed it with my free hand before turning back to the group. What would the Overseer say this time? We were already tasked with finding nuclear silos of all things, so... It can't be much more to the story, right?

I loaded up the holotape.

_"Overseer's Log. South of Vault 76._

_I-I knew this wasn't going to be the Appalachia I remembered, but... Mutated animals, haywire robots, and no people so far._

_We have to be ready to rebuild in - what I can confirm - is hostile territory. Fortunately... Vault-Tec was prepared._

_You see this? The cooking station, the stash box, the workbenches. All built with the CAMP._

_You need a home base out there. The Construction and Assembly Mobile Platform is designed to give you one. Just add resources, planning, and a little elbow grease._

_When you move your CAMP, everything you've built is stored, ready to be placed back down in the new area. Use this to establish a foothold whenever you're in unfamiliar territory._

_… I've left my camp behind, so you can use it._

_I know I'm breaking my own advice by not taking it with me, but... After seeing Appalachia for myself, I need to make sure every resident of Vault 76 has a safe haven they can start from. I'll make do without it._

_If it's still standing... The town of Flatwoods is further down this road. Find me there."_

In unison, everyone turned their heads towards the road... A road which led to, what we could just barely make out to be, some buildings sat in the distance.  


End file.
